


The Return

by Souyoosk



Category: Free!
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-23
Updated: 2014-03-23
Packaged: 2018-01-16 17:16:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,024
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1355374
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Souyoosk/pseuds/Souyoosk
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff"><p>A fluff drabble/fic to follow up the extreme angst I wrote before this lol</p></blockquote>





	The Return

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [When You're Gone](https://archiveofourown.org/works/1327234) by [Souyoosk](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Souyoosk/pseuds/Souyoosk). 



There wasn’t much that Haru did after finding out that Makoto would never wake up. The Tachibanas had said that they’ll keep his body going for as long as they could since there was a small hope that he could still wake up. It was painful though. Waiting, hoping, having his lifeless body sit in a hospital room with no purpose, none of that inner light that Haru had come to love. To need.

He submerged his head under water. He tried to force the thoughts out of his head, tried to rid himself of the emotions that continually clutched at his chest and made it unbearably tight, but as weeks passed, it became a familiar feeling. He was used to it. The void next to him, the gaping hole in his heart. All of it had become so familiar that he was starting to become numb to it. He welcomed the feeling.

He got out of the bath hours later, well into the day. School held no interest for him. There was no point in the swim club. Freeing himself of Rin and their past was a distant memory. He sometimes thought about what Rei and Nagisa were up to, but he also partially blamed them as well as himself so he tried not to think of them often.

He hadn’t realized it till after Makoto was gone that he… relied on him for everything. Makoto prompted him to eat healthier, to talk to more people, to do things and always supported Haru even if he was refusing what Makoto proposed.

_I… took him for granted. He was there for me, but I wasn’t there for him. I should… tell him that today…_

Every day, without fail, Haru visited Makoto in the hospital. Sometimes he spoke, other times he stayed silent. It wasn’t any different for Haru except that there was no chatter from his friend and he had to start speaking first.

_Everything is more difficult without you around… I need to move on though… this is the last time._

Haru sighed heavily as he walked through the doors of the hospital. He hated going in there. Life and death were happening all around and reminded Haru that there was only a tiny thread of hope that his friend would wake up before the plugs were pulled on the machines keeping him alive. He checked in with the nurse he always saw and headed into the room, not expecting anything to be different.

And it wasn’t. The heart monitor still beeped monotonously and his chest still moved up and down in the same motion as always, filled and emptied by a machine. Haru took his usual seat close to Makoto’s face and grasped Makoto’s hand.

He pressed his lips against it and sometimes that would be all that he did, but not that day. He had things he needed to say, struggling to hold back sobs. “Makoto, I continue to miss you every day, but I can’t- I-I have to go on living for you. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry that I didn’t appreciate everything you put up with for me. I’m so sorry. _Please come back!_ ”

Haru let the tears fall, his chest contracting until it was physically painful. He clutched at Makoto’s hand with both of his own and cried into it. He just wanted his best friend back. He didn’t care if he never swam again or did anything else. All he wanted was to hear that soft voice again, to meet those kind eyes and tell him everything he never got the chance to say before the incident.

When the fingers in that hand he was holding twitched, he wrote it off as a figment of his imagination, but then his eyes went wide and he froze when he heard a raspy, weak voice call out his name. “H-Haru?”

Haru’s head shot up and more tears slipped down his face as he stared at his friend. He was almost convinced it was a dream when he met those green eyes for the first time in what felt like forever. But then he spoke again, confusion settling into his voice. “Haru?... Where am I?”

“M-Makoto? Y-you’re awake!” Haru sobbed again and surged forward to hug Makoto tightly. “I missed you so much. I’m so sorry. So sorry…”

Makoto was surprised at first, but gathered enough from Haru’s reaction that things had gone very badly. He rubbed the other’s head while a fond smile broke across his face. “It’s okay. It’ll be okay, but Haru, you should probably get the nurse.”

“You’re not ever leaving my sight ever again.” Haru hugged him again and stood up, wiping the tears from his face before poking his head out and calling for a nurse.

Things moved quickly after that. Makoto was released from the hospital a couple of days later, but wasn’t allowed back to school for another week. Haru refused to return until Makoto did and spent every moment making sure that Makoto was okay and didn’t need anything. It only took Makoto an hour to put an end to it with a laugh. “Haru, I’m okay now. I’m not going anywhere and I can manage cleaning up myself. Thank you for all the help, but it feels so weird to have you help out instead.”

“Sorry…” Haru never stopped apologizing for that. His voice would get so sullen at the mention of it and Makoto almost regretted saying it, but he wasn’t done.

“Haru-chan should act like Haru-chan again is what I mean. I never once minded taking care of you, okay?”

Haru nodded and reached for Makoto’s hand, a blush making its way across his cheeks. “I love you… can we take a bath together anyway?”

Makoto stepped back toward Haru and wrapped his other arm Haru and squeezing their hands. He kissed the top of Haru’s forehead, smiling. “I love taking baths with Haru, but I love you the very most.”

Haru smiled shyly and his heart swelled, tightening in such a wonderful way. He couldn’t be any happier that his friend was alive and well once again.

**Author's Note:**

> A fluff drabble/fic to follow up the extreme angst I wrote before this lol


End file.
